Matchmaker
by That's What Cheese Said
Summary: Ryou's shy. Malik's in denial. When a Rare Hunter, an adopted brother, and a 3000 year old Egyptian spirit decide to play Matchmaker, hell breaks loose. Angstshipping Malik/Ryou. Has OC WHO LOVES NO ONE I PROMISE!
1. Chapter 1

**Oh no, my first fanfiction with an OC. I'm scared of the outcome…**

**I'm kind of afraid of how this will turn out…**

**I made sure to take millions of Mary Sue tests, and they all say that she isn't one, but I can't help but worry.**

**So…an angstshipping fic. And before you run away screaming at the word 'OC', I will guarantee right now that **_**she will have romantic interaction with no one! **_**The worst she's going to do is have a brother-sister relationship with some people.**

**Also, I just want to share some details that I'm altering in this fic:**

**-You know how the Millennium Key can look into your mind and alter it? Well, the Millennium Eye can now do something similar to that, except that it can only observe the mind, not mess with it.**

**-Battle City will take about two years. Come on, half of these games are two episodes long at the very least. It's gonna take a while to play all 'dem card games.**

**-The OC I have in this will be the **_**only OC in this fic**_**. I won't add little random OCs just to move the plot along. There are enough canon characters to do that without snippets of my imagination stealing their already limited spotlight.**

**-The OC stole the eye from Pegasus, not 'Kura. Yes.**

**-Only Malik and Rishid know about Yami Marik.**

**Well…that's all I can think of. Enjoy!**

"Attention, mind-slaves! I have an announcement!"  
_No, really? I hadn't noticed._ The girl who was listening dully to  
this little speech snarled, wanting to say the words in her head out  
loud.  
Honestly, why did her boss have to call her down for this useless  
little speech? She could be using this time sleeping. Or rearranging  
her deck. Or sleeping.  
"We have a new member!"  
_...you have got to be freaking kidding me. _This is why she was  
called down here? New mind-slaves came in twice a day. What made this  
one special?  
_Oh, never mind,_ she thought to herself. It wasn't worth it to get  
this worked up.  
"He, like Minami, is joining the Rare Hunters as he has a Millennium  
Item as well."  
_Well, there you go then._ Could they leave yet?  
"Unlike Minami, however, he has already been conspiring against the  
Pharaoh before he agreed to join us."  
The girl was seriously getting irritated, _Stop talking or so help me I will-_  
"His name is Bakura, owner of the Millennium Ring."  
...the girl could tell from one look that she didn't like him.  
A man stepped from the shadows. Well, 'man' was such a strong word.  
More like combination of teenage girl and kitty. He had long, spiky  
white hair, pasty white skin, and narrowed, red-brown eyes that glared  
at her for a moment before turning back to the person who was speaking  
before, "I'm flattered by your speech, Ishtar, but some of your little  
cronies look like they want to leave."  
The girl childishly stuck his tongue out at him. _Jerk. I can speak for myself._  
Malik was silent for a couple of seconds, and then he said, "Very  
well. All of you can leave..."  
_Thank you!_  
"...except for Minami."  
Of course. Of. Freaking. Course.  
The girl's green eye was obviously flashing with annoyance and anger  
as Malik and Bakura kept their gazes on her. Once the room consisted  
of only those three, Malik told them, "Even though the Rare Hunters  
are constantly growing, we are the only possible three with free will  
_and _Millennium Items. We're going to have to work together from now  
on to defeat the Pharaoh."  
The girl frowned, "All three of us? I'm pretty sure that you and the  
kitty guy can manage by yourselves while I just wait in the  
background. Besides, I'm sure that you'd simply _love_ to have such a  
dashing young gentleman to yourself."  
Malik glared daggers at her, though she could detect the slightest  
hint of a blush on his tan face, "You know that I _never _do anything  
of that sort!"  
The girl countered in a sing-song voice, "Your wardrobe says otherwise~"  
"Shut up!"  
Bakura smirked, "The girl has a point, you know."  
Malik was fuming by this point. He took out his Millennium Rod and  
swung it towards Bakura's head, who ducked right in time.  
The one eyed girl tsk'ed him, her spiky dirty blond ponytail swung  
back and forth as she shook her head, "Malik, Malik. You can't just  
thrust your rod in some poor boy's face. You need to take it  
slowly-OW!"  
The girl rubbed her poor bruised head as Malik glared at her, "Listen,  
_Emiko_, you need to quit playing around and _focus_!"  
Okay, time to loosen up on the jokes a little bit. From half a year of  
knowing her boss (who really shouldn't be her boss, considering that  
she's a couple months older than him, but still), Emiko knew that  
Malik was dead serious when he started calling her by her first name.  
She wouldn't be caught dead revealing her motives, however, so all she  
did was rub her head some more and mutter, "Whatever."  
Malik huffed, "Good. Now, though we may be the only three here with  
Millennium Items, there are four of us who aren't hypnotized by the  
rod."  
...that sentence was just _begging_ for a perverted joke. Emiko knew  
to keep her mouth shut, though.  
Bakura raised an eyebrow, "Who's the fourth person?"  
Emiko answered, "Malik's older brother, Rishid."  
To be honest, Emiko was kind of scared of Rishid. He towered over  
_everyone_, he followed Malik's orders without hesitation, which even  
the mind-slaves would do sometimes, he looked so _serious_ all the  
time, and the fact that he was bald was just an addition to the  
scariness.  
This was yet another thing Emiko wouldn't ever dare tell anyone. Ever.  
Malik nodded to confirm it, "Yes, he is my adopted older brother. He's  
trustworthy, I'm sure of it, so you can go to him if you need."  
Emiko cut in, "Look, as much as I love watching you flirt with magical  
teenage boys you found on the side of the road, I'd like to know why  
I'm here, exactly."  
Malik narrowed her eyes as her, but didn't bother to rebuke her this  
time. Instead he answered her question, "You're going to show him  
where he's going to be sleeping."  
"Oh, I can tell him that easily. Malik's room is down the hall, last  
door to the right-OW! Damn you, Ishtar! That hurts, you know!"  
He held his Millennium Rod with pride and victory as Emiko once again  
painfully rubbed the spot that Malik hit.  
Emiko sighed, "Which room is he sleeping in, then?"  
"The room across from yours."  
Emiko's green eye widened, "No! I refuse! I already claimed that  
entire hallway! It's _mine_!"  
"Well, looks like you're sharing it with someone else."  
Emiko looked furious. No one stole her hallway! It was her gift, since  
she was forced to join the Rare Hunters in the first place!  
Her tense face slowly loosened as she shrugged casually, "Okay, I can  
live with that. He's going to be sleeping in your bed in about a week  
anyway."  
Both males looked shocked by what she said. One guess to who was more furious.  
Gosh, she _loved_ torturing Malik.  
Even if it did mean loosing her hallway...  
Emiko turned and began to walk to the hallway, "Keep up, 'Kura! You  
get a room in my hallway, so you better act grateful!"  
She heard the sounds of Bakura muttering something inaudible (though  
she swore that she heard the word 'brat') and then following her.  
As they began to walk up the stairs, Bakura asked, "So, you have the  
Millennium Eye?"  
I answered dryly, "No, I took out my eye and put on this eye patch just  
for decoration."  
Bakura's voice sounded unimpressed, "Don't act smart with me. I'm just  
warning you against scanning my mind with it."  
Oh _yeeaah_, the mind scan! Emiko had completely forgotten about using  
that that in the midst of bothering the ever-loving Egyptian out of  
Malik. But now that he reminded her...  
She decided that one little mind scan wouldn't hurt. Besides, she  
could spend hours scanning his mind and it would only be two seconds  
in reality.  
Closing her eye, she focused on Bakura's mind as the Millennium Eye flashed.  
...and she was in a...desert...  
Honestly, couldn't these villains think of anything more creative for  
their minds than sand?  
She regretted dissing off the sand a second later as she heard a loud  
noise coming closer and closer. Turning around, she saw a large, blood  
red sand storm not far away.  
Her knowledge on Egypt didn't range very far, but she was pretty sure  
that sand wasn't bloody red.  
Good thing that the power of the Millennium Eye granted her safety in  
other people's minds. It was a useful power, she must say.  
Squinting her eye, she saw a figure running away from the sand storm.  
This came as a surprise. _Who in the world spends their time in  
peoples' minds? Especially minds of psychopaths who like red sand._  
Walking closer, she saw the person more closely, which was an even  
bigger surprise.  
This boy looked just like Bakura, in some ways. In one, he looked much  
more feminine. He had large, chocolate brown eyes that were glazed  
with fear as he ran for his life. His hair looked more fluffy than  
spiky as it flowed behind him. His features were much softer than  
Bakura's.  
Emiko stopped thinking about their contrasts as she realized that the  
blood sand storm almost had the poor boy. She waved her arms and  
called, "Come to me! I can help you!"  
The boy stared in utter surprise at her as he ran, and Emiko knew that  
the sand storm would catch him first if she didn't get into action.  
Emiko sprinted towards him, and the boy fell into her arms. He felt  
skinny and weak, Emiko mentally noted.  
The boy looked up at her, and she saw tears streaking his sandy face,  
"No...it'll get both of us..."  
Ignoring his weak protests that she should leave, she bent down, and  
the boy buried his face in her neck, obviously scared for his life.  
As the bloody sand storm rolled over them, Emiko's invisible  
force-field of safety became visible, and the sand went around the  
clear dome, keeping her and the boy safe.  
Again, she loved her guaranteed safety in people's minds.  
The boy stared at her, "H-how are we sa-safe?"  
Emiko simply lifted up her eye patch, showing him her Millennium Eye.  
The boy stared at it in surprise. She assumed that he knew what the  
Millennium Eye was, as he lived in the mind of someone who owned a  
Millennium Item.  
She then asked, "So, what were you doing, anyway, running away from  
sand storms?"  
He looked at the ground, a new layer of tears threatening to fall, "He  
forces me into his mind...and then mentally attacks me so that I'm too  
weak too take my body back...and before I can regain my strength he  
just attacks he again..."  
Fresh tears fell on the sandy ground, and Emiko inquired, "Who's 'he'?"  
The boy answered, "He's my other me...my darker self..."  
Emiko blinked, "You mean Bakura?"  
He flinched, "Yeah...that's what most everyone calls him."  
Emiko asked, "What's your name, then?"  
The boy muttered without much emotion, "It's Bakura, but he took my  
name too, so I suppose you can call me Ryou. That's my first name."  
Emiko stared at the real Bakura, or Ryou, "Well, you can call me  
Emiko. That's my first name too."  
Ryou asked, "Shouldn't I call you by your last name?"  
"Nah, I like Emiko better. 'Sides, it's only fair, if I'm calling you  
by your first name."  
Ryou gave her a crooked smile, "Okay...thank you...Emiko..."  
They waited in silence until the blood-storm finally went away. Emiko  
stood up first and looked around, "So, how are we going to stop these  
attacks?"  
Ryou bounced up, and Emiko noticed how he seemed much stronger than he  
did when she first saw him, "His attacks are scheduled, so I can  
regain my strength and escape to my mind, and by the time he realizes  
that I'm in my own mind, I'll be strong enough to keep him from  
dragging me back here!"  
Emiko couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm, "You have this whole  
thing figured out, don't you?"  
Ryou nodded excitedly, but then his face grew a little more serious as  
he asked, "Hey, Emiko...what is...'Bakura' doing out there anyway? I  
don't want him to be doing anything too bad..."  
Emiko asked, "You can't see his memories?"  
Ryou shook his head, "No, but he can see mine. So, has he done anything bad?"  
Well, _now_ was not the best time to tell him that Bakura had in fact  
joined the most dreaded card-game organization in the world, the Rare  
Hunters.  
"Oh, he's just checking into a hotel right now. I'm in the room across  
from him."  
...that wasn't an _entire_ lie...  
Ryou looked relived, "That's good. I'll try to take over my body sometimes."  
"Before I go, Ryou, I want to know if I can tell someone about this."  
"Um..."  
"He's a...good friend...of mine, and I promise that he won't tell  
anyone. Thing is, I just can't keep secrets without telling at least  
one person."  
Ryou looked hesitant, but then he slowly nodded, "Sure...okay..."  
He looked at the sky, "The next mental attack will come soon. I'd better go."  
He waved to me, "I'll see you again, Emiko!"  
She waved back, "Yep, be sure to visit me!"  
Emiko concentrated on her eye again, and she was walking up the stairs again.  
She heard Bakura-or the _dark_ Bakura's voice, "Got it?"  
"Err...I wasn't listening..."  
Bakura let out an irritated sigh, "I told you to stay out of my mind. Got it?"  
Emiko rolled her eye, "Sure, whatever."  
After she dropped Bakura off at his room (in _her_ hallway), she ran  
off to Malik's room. She had quite a few things to tell him.

**Yeah, I don't like this chapter. It looked better in my head…**

**Well, I hope its good enough to satisfy your guys's needs.**

**And yes, my OC asks like a total Mary Sue, with her bipolarism and BFF-ness with Ryou. **_**Don't judge me **_**._.**

**And happy early birthday, Malik! And merry early Christmas! I won't be able to post anything for a while because apparently, I'm not spending Christmas at home like I was **_**supposed to**_**, but instead my mom guilt-tripped my step dad into going to spend time with **_**family **_**–shudder- and now both of them owe me. **_**Big time.**_

**Also, my dad and step mom got me some Yu-Gi-Oh cards. These are the very first Yu-Gi-Oh cards I've ever had in my life ever. I love them (even if they were GX cards and it was literally based off of Jaden's deck, but I can look past that because they are **_**bloody Yu-Gi-Oh cards!**_**).**

**GAH, I keep getting off topic. Anywho, enjoy your holidays and Christmas themed fanfiction!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright, guys...the second chapter.**

**I also want to use this chance to say that Emiko does /not/ have a**

**yami! She just likes talking to herself.**

**Also, I apologize for the style in the first chapter. In order to post it I had to email the chapter to myself on a different computer and...Yeah.**

**So, enjoy!**

_So, Emiko, what are you going to do?_

The girl answered her conscious simply; _You know very well what I'm going to do._

Her pesky conscious pushed, _Oh really? Care to enlighten me, o smart one?_

Emiko rolled her eye, _Stupid conscious. Think you know everything._

Before she gave her conscious a chance to snap back, she mentally told it, _I'm going to go to Malik, tell him about Ryou, go to sleep, and wait for this whole thing to blow over..._

_That sounds all and well, but it might do you good to __look where you're going!_

Before Emiko could figure out what her conscious was trying to say, she ran into someone.

Looking up, she snapped, "Watch where you're-!"

She stopped her snap when she saw Rishid looking down at her calmly.

He asked, "What do you want?"

Emiko answered, crossing her arms, "I need to see Malik right now."

Rishid shook his bald head slowly, "I'm afraid that you can't do that."

"What? Why not? I demand an explanation!"

"Because Master Malik is getting ready to sleep."

"So? This is an emergency!"

"An emergency?"

"Yes!"

"Like the snakes?"

"...fair point, but still, I have to speak with him! Now!"

"Is this urgent?"

"Yes!"

"Is this important?"

"Very, yes!"

"Is this desperate?"

"Oh for the love of-yes it's desperate!"

"Then why couldn't you have told him this earlier?"

"..."

"Exactly. Now go back to your room."

"No, I need to-HEY! Let go, baldy!"

Emiko squirmed as Rishid had grabbed the back of her cloak and began to drag her to her room, which I feel inclined to add was in her hallway.

He opened the door and dropped her in her room. "You can wait until morning until you tell master Malik your urgent message."

Emiko muttered, just loud enough for him to hear, "Bloody bald-headed guy, thinks he knows everything."

Rishid only said coolly, "Go to sleep."

He closed the door as Emiko stood up, dusting herself. She did _not_ appreciate being dropped on the ground!

She grinned sneakily, though. There was no way that Baldy was getting the last laugh (though Emiko highly doubted that the man was capable of positive feelings).

She decided to wait in her room for a couple of hours before going to

Malik, in case Rishid decided to stay in her hallway until she gave up.

Hmph, he was more annoying than Malik. No wonder they're related. Kind of.

To pass time, Emiko decided to play around with her Duel Monsters cards.

"'So, Poison Mummy, who are you going to the dance with?'...'I'm going with none other than Shadowslayer, of course!'...'No way! That can't be right, Dark Blade! _I'm_ going with Shadowslayer!'...'What? He said that he'd come with me!'...'Me too! That jerk said he loved me!'...I need more friends..."

After it was completely silent and she was sure that Rishid went to sleep, Emiko slid out of her room, not daring to let her door squeak.

She tiptoed down her hallway, then down the stairs, then into the lobby. She made sure to press herself against the wall to blend in with the shadows, and then dashed into the hallway where Malik's room was. Before long, she was standing in front of the hotel room that

Malik slept in,

She knocked lightly and called softly, "Malik, wake up. I need to tell you something."

No answer. Again, she knocked, "Malik? Get up."

Aw, to hell with it.

After a series of loud knocks she near shouted, "Oi, Ishtar! Get off your lazy butt and open the damn do-"

Before she could finish her sentence, the door slammed open, revealing a very unhappy Egyptian.

If he weren't currently glaring daggers at her, Emiko would've laughed. His hair was a mess, he was wearing nothing but baggy pants, and his face looked dull, confirming that he did in fact wear make-up.

He narrowed his eyes dangerously, "Minami, you have five seconds to tell me what you are doing outside of my room before I slam the door on your face."

"I have something important to tell you."

"I figured."

"In private."

"You're not going in my room."

He might as well have saved his breath as Emiko pushed him aside and walked into her room casually, as if she weren't pretty much walking into an active beehive after maiming it with a steel baseball bat.

She reached for the light switch, but Malik slapped her hand away,

"No, it stays dark!"

"Why? Trying to keep something hidden?"

"No, I just don't want light blinding me!"

"Aw, wook at wittle Mawik, scawed of the wight."

"You're swimming in shark infected waters here, Minami..."

While his guard was down for a quick second, she once again reached for the light and managed to turn it on this time.

She looked around the somewhat large room with tan walls. _Huh, maybe he was telling the truth about the light-_

Her thoughts plummeted into nothingness when she spotted the poster hanging above his bed.

_Oh my god..._, all of the jokes Emiko had made about Malik's sexual orientation seemed to be legit as she stared at the poster.

There were four men-or teenage boys, whatever-on the poster. All of them seemed to have punk-ish black hair, except for one boy who had long red hair. They were all wearing tight, leather clothing, and

Emiko mentally noted that each of their _completely hairless chests_ were revealed in some way. From what she could see, all of them were wearing make-up.

This was too much for Emiko to take. The corner of her lips began to twitch, and Malik let out a threatening, "Don't even _think_ about laughing, Emiko..."

Knowing better than to laugh at a boy with gender issues and a golden rod of magic, she quickly covered her mouth with both her hands, though obvious giggles were heard.

Malik sighed, his cheeks very pink, "I was afraid that you'd see that and take it the wrong way. They're a talented band."

Emiko stared at him, still covering her mouth to hide the smiling,

"They're a _band_?"

Looking at the poster again, she saw dark red letters over the four band members that spelled out 'Gesshoku'.

After giving the poster another long look, she pointed at one of the band members that seemed particularly close to another member, who didn't seem to mind the physical contact, "I think that he's not straight."

Malik, for some reason, was furious at this, "Kohaku Tsukino is _not_ gay! He happens to have a girlfriend!"

Emiko pointed at the boy he was touching, "Then why...?"

Malik answered stubbornly, crossing his arms, "Kohaku Tsukino and Yuki

Mori happen to have been childhood friends! It was their idea to make Gesshoku in the first place! With the help of Isamu Kimura and Daichi Fukui-", he motioned to the other two band members, "-who /also/ wanted to make a band, they were able to do that!"

"...are _they_ not straight?"

"No! Daichi Fukui is actually engaged to a girl named Ayoko Wakahisa!

Their wedding is going to be in France in a week!"

"You know all this?"

"Of course!"

"...Malik..."

"What?"

"You are so much like a teenage girl it hurts."

Malik narrowed his eyes, "Didn't you come in here for a reason?"

_Huh? _Emiko gave him a blank look."

He growled, "The _emergency_? Ringing a bell?"

...oh yeah! In the midst of trying to figure out Malik's sexual orientation (aka the most difficult job ever for a narrow minded individual), Emiko had forgotten why she had come here.

Malik looked like he was getting more annoyed by the second, "Well, _Emiko_?"

Emiko blinked, _Now how was she going to say this...?_

She had to make it as simply and least direct as possible...

"Bakura has a split personality."

Yeah...least direct as possible...

Malik's expression changed from being irritated to an expression that

Emiko couldn't quite understand, "A...split personality?"

He cleared his throat; as if to regain his authority, "Explain."

Emiko then explained everything she knew about Bakura, and the real owner of the body.

"...and his name's Ryou, and he's _really_ nice," she concluded, a little confused at how Malik hadn't interrupted her at all, but hung on her every word.

Malik asked coolly (or perhaps _too_ coolly in Emiko's opinion), "Why are you telling me this?"

Emiko told him, "He says he's going to try to take him body back at times, and I told him that Bakura had only checked into an innocent hotel, because I don't think he'd take Bakura joining the Rare Hunters too well. So when he takes over his body, I want you to treat this like a normal hotel, got it?"

Malik nodded obediently, which is something that Emiko thought that he'd never do, especially at _her_ suggestions, "I understand. And I want to be called Namu while he's around."

Emiko blinked a couple of times, "Namu? What's wrong with Malik?"

"Word's going around about the Big Bad Malik Ishtar is the leader of the evil Rare Hunters, and I don't think that this Ryou will want to he associated with the leader of an evil organization. So when he's around, my name is Namu Tsukino."

"Isn't that the last name of one of the band members?"

"..."

"Ah-_ha_! You have a crush on a member of a boy band! Oh, I'm actually not that surprised..."

"I do not have a crush on him! It was the first last name that came to mind!"

Emiko didn't hear this, as she began clapping and chanting, "You have a cru-ush, you have a cru-ush..."

While the two teased (mostly in Emiko's case) and threatened (mostly in

Malik's case), Rishid stood outside of the door, frowning and yet feeling slightly happy.

He had originally came to his little brother's room when he had heard

Emiko's shouting of wanting to get in. He had correctly assumed that she was just waiting for him to go away until seeking out Malik.

Rishid had appeared to Malik's room after the boy band conversation, and stayed to hear about Bakura's alter ago.

He had heard the curiosity in Malik's voice as he talked about 'Ryou', and how he wanted to help.

Rishid knew as well as anyone else why Malik was so keen to help Ryou.

This was because he needed Ryou to help him.

Sure, Rishid helped keep Malik's evil form, Yami no Marik under control, but he could only do so much for Malik personally. He didn't have an evil being inside him, fighting to get out and cause mayhem with the blame falling on someone else's shoulders.

Rishid could just imagine Malik using his smooth talk on Ryou, saying that he had an evil imaginary friend who's been plaguing his nightmares since he was a child, and Ryou (who, according to Emiko, seemed very nice) sympathizing, telling him that he knew how it felt.

Rishid sighed. It seemed like a good plan and all, considering both sides would get a load off their shoulders with the comfort, but why did he have the strange feeling that this wouldn't end well?

He broke away from his thoughts when he heard Emiko's voice, "As much as I'd love to stay and try to lure you out of the closet, I want some beauty sleep. I can see very clearly that you need it."

Rishid quickly walked away from the door, as if just passing by, not hearing Malik's loud rebuke.

He heard the door open, a surprised noise, and footsteps running back into the room. Peeking over his shoulder, he just saw the end of a purple cloak.

He fought against rolling his eyes. _Why master Malik chose someone so childish to join the Rare Hunters, I'll never know..._

He heard Emiko ask, "Can I stay in your room tonight? There are creepy bald people roaming the halls, and I know that you won't do anything to me because you'll be too busy snuggling with your Kohaku Tsukino plushie-NOT THE HAIR! NOT THE HAIR!"

Rishid saw in the corner of his eye Emiko being tossed out of the room and the door slamming quite loudly behind her.

He tried not to smile in amusement when Emiko rubbed her head and glared at the door, muttering something that sounded like 'she-males these days'.

She then looked nervously at Rishid, whom she now saw was staring at her.

Before she could say anything in her defense, Rishid said, "Just make sure that everything goes alright between Ryou and Malik and I'll be happy."

He walked away, though he just managed to see Emiko's confused look.

Sure, okay, Emiko now knew what was expected of her to unknowingly help Malik. But would it be enough? And why did Rishid have a bad feeling that only tears and pain would come out of this?

**Couple of things, guys:**

**-Gesshoku is not a real band. I just randomly made it up. The band members are fake too.**

**-Yes, Rishid is going to become a regular character. Come on, the guy never gets any screen time in the show **_**or**_** in fanfiction.**

**-Emiko isn't a homophobe (the very opposite, actually), she just likes to bother Malik. A **_**lot**_**.**

**-The Rare Hunter's headquarters are in an abandoned apartment in a town right next to Domino City. They've been there a while before**

**Battle City.**

**Reviews are appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I love you, reviewers. You make me feel all **_**giddy **_**inside~**

**Giddy feelings aside, I really love your reviews. In fact, I love them SO much; I'm going to reply to you guys individually!**

**BakushippingxForever****-Well, thank you for wasting-I mean using some of your time to review on this story! It means a lot to me~**

**Yikes, everyone loves Malik getting teased, eh? Well, trust me, there are more Malik-jokes to come~**

**Wolfbane-Chan****-You don't think she's a Mary Sue? Well, that's a relief to me. I was kinda worried about her for a while…**

**I hope you get your Yu-Gi-Oh cards~**

**Though I spend most of my time roleplaying with them instead of actually dueling like Emiko does…**

**YAY, FAVORITES~**

**-clears throat awkwardly- Sorry about that, I get excited easily…**

**Thank you though~**

**Annzy****-Why is it always your reviews that make me wanna jump up and down like an insane person who's drank too much orange soda? Huh, odd…**

**Torturing Malik is always fun lol, but I'm glad that you enjoyed his torture. Like I said, there's going to be more Malik-abuse soon~**

**Oh, a Mary Sue is a character, usually female, who is 'too perfect' ****.**

**I hope you keep enjoying this, I try my best~**

**Obsessed-beyond-reason2001****-Yeah, sorry about that format TT_TT**

**But I'm glad you're reading it. Thank yoouu~**

**Okay, enough of my one-page ranting and onto the chapter!**

_"Just make sure that everything goes alright between Ryou and Malik and I'll be happy."_

That statement had been floating around through Emiko's head ever since she had woken up.

A couple of hours ago, after coming back from Malik's room, she had been trying to go to sleep, but thoughts and a series of loud noises across the hall (Emiko assumed that it was Bakura doing spirit-y stuff and she didn't want to get in his way) woke her up completely.

_What does Rishid mean? So, he just wants be to make sure that Malik and Ryou become friends? Hm, sounds easy enough._

But as she continued to think about it, the mission didn't seem as easy as she would've hoped.

Emiko thought of how the only people Malik really ever talked to were

Rishid and her (though their 'discussions' weren't exactly Malik's favorite pastime). His feelings towards her were quite obvious (she rubbed her sensitive hair as she said this, as it still hurt from being yanked), and Malik obviously trusted Rishid, but was they couldn't really be considered friends. Did Malik make friends easily?

Emiko needed to ask Rishid about that later. And then there was Ryou.

Someone with an evil alter ego wouldn't make many friends, would they?

Besides, Ryou seemed like a shy guy. Did _he_ make friends easily?

Emiko groaned as she knocked her head. Why was this so difficult!

Then she thought about Rishid. Why did he want the two to be friends?

No doubt, Malik needed more friends, but it seemed like something more serious was in the works.

Emiko could feel her eye twitch, as the noises in the other room were getting louder. Curiosity getting the better of her, she got up and walked across the hall.

Before she opened the door, she heard something heavy get thrown at it. Heavy like...a human body, almost.

_What's Bakura doing? Randomly throwing dead bodies he found in the closet around the room? That sounds plausible, actually..._

She knocked on the door, "Bakura, quiet down. Some of us our trying to sleep."

She didn't bother to mention that she wasn't sleeping, but still. The noises were distracting.

"S-sorry," came the response. "I'll t-try to quiet down-AH!"

Emiko blinked in confusion. Bakura's voice sounded more polite and British than usual.

And the way that he was right next to the door...was _he_ the body that was thrown at the door.

Not to mention that painful noise he had made before he could finish his sentence...

Was...was someone _hurting_ Bakura?

No, Bakura wasn't the type to be beaten down...

Emiko's one eye grew to the size of a dinner plate when she realized...

She began banging in the door, "Ryou! Ryou, is that you?"

The familiar British voice choked out, "Don't come in... he-he'll hurt you too..."

"Who? Who's hurting you?"

Ryou didn't reply, though Emiko heard the sounds of breaking glass and painful cries.

Emiko tried to open the door, but it was locked. She called out to her friend frantically, "Whoever's hurting Ryou, stay away from him! 'Cause when I get in there, you'll be in _big_ trouble, you hear me! Hang in there, Ry, I'll help you! Just hang in there!"

Emiko looked around desperately and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Rishid standing at the end of the hallway, looking slightly confused.

He said, "Master Malik told me to wake you up."

Emiko exclaimed, "He can wait! Help me save Ryou!"

A look of surprise covered his face, but he didn't say anything as he reached into his cloak, pulling out a ring of keys. At the top of each key was a purple rubber covering, three numbers painted in gold on each.

Without looking up he asked, "What's the room number?"

Emiko looked at the golden numbers on the door that read '412'. "412!"

After a couple of seconds of looking, Rishid unhooked the necessary key and shoved it into the lock, then turned it.

As soon as she heard the 'click', Emiko grabbed the handle and swung the door open, revealing Ryou, who was using one hand to support himself on a wall, battered and bloody.

Emiko ran towards him, "Ryou!"

The boy quickly turned around, and Emiko swore that she saw his eyes turn red as she felt the back of a hand sting her in the face.

As soon as the red in his eyes went away, Ryou's pupils shrunk, "E-Emi-"

The girl asked frantically, forgetting the red mark on her cheek, "Who's doing this?"

Rishid spoke up, "There's no one else here."

Emiko turned to him, "What? Then who-"

She stopped in mid-sentence, slowly turning back to the terrified Ryou.

"Bakura's doing this, isn't he?"

Ryou was silent, his attention on the ground.

"Isn't he?"

Ryou flinched at the ferocity in her voice, and then nodded before his body involuntarily slammed itself against the already-broken mirror.

The other two stared in hopeless fear until Rishid turned to Emiko and snapped, "Go into his mind!"

Emiko stared at him in bewilderment, "What?"

"Go into his mind and stop Bakura!"

...

_...dammit, why do I keep forgetting about that damn Eye? You'd think that I'd remember it after, y'know, loosing a body part over it._

Emiko closed her eye, and next thing she knew she was in the familiar desert.

Except the desert was so much different. For one thing, the sand was completely blood red, like the sandstorm from before. Another thing was that the once blue sky was now gray and stormy.

Oh, and she didn't quite recall Bakura whipping Ryou with _a freaking whip of lightning_ last time she visited.

Bakura saw her as soon as she got there and smirked, "Ah, Minami

Emiko, I was wondering when you'd come to join the party."

Emiko outstretched her arms in front of Ryou, who cowered behind her, "Leave Ryou alone! He's never done anything to you!"

Bakura only looked at the two for a moment, and then his smirk grew even wider, "If little Ryou would give us a moment of privacy?"

Emiko turned around to look at Ryou, who was giving Bakura a distrustful glare. Then looked at Emiko worriedly. She nodded at him, and the whitette slowly backed away until he was invisible in the thick air.

Emiko was too busy watching Ryou walk away that she was startled to see Bakura standing directly in front of her when she turned back towards him.

Bakura, his smug grin still on his face, casually brushed some hair out of her face, making Emiko snarl. Bakura only looked pleased with the reaction and after a couple of seconds he said, "Dear Emiko, I haven't had a physical body for 3000 years. Do you know how that feels? The only obstacle between a real body and me is little Ryou. Why should I leave him alone? What do I get in return, hm?"

Emiko didn't say anything; only glared at him with all her might. _He already knows what he wants. He's just playing around with me. The bastard..._

Bakura wiped away a stray piece of hair in particular that was in front of her eyepatch. Then, he slowly lifted the eyepatch and looked at the Millennium Eye greedily, "Hm, this magic eye of yours may do the trick..."

Emiko immediately took several steps back, "No way! You're not taking my eye out while I'm stuck here** (1)**!"

Bakura found this amusing, as he chuckled darkly, then taking a couple steps closer to her, "I'm not taking it _now_."

When Emiko looked at him in confusion, Bakura sighed, and explained, as if he were talking to a five year old, "The only reason I have agreed to work with Malik is because we have a deal. I'm supposed to help him get revenge on the Pharaoh and get the three Egyptian God

Cards. Once I've done that, he will give me his Millennium Rod. When collect my prize from Malik, I'm going to get the Eye from you, whether you agree with my agreement or not. So you might as well just agree."

Emiko eyed him suspiciously, "What's the agreement?"

"If you give me the Eye when I am ready to take it, I will let Ryou out to play whenever his frail heart desires, and I will stop abusing him."

Without stopping to think this out rationally, I nodded my head, "It's a deal."

Bakura's smirk turned into one of pride (probably being proud of himself for pulling it off, Emiko guessed), "Good. Now, I'll let Ryou out now peacefully. You can deal with his wounds."

In what was probably a millisecond, Emiko was back in the messed-up room, Ryou in her arms crying, and Rishid by the door.

Emiko sighed gently as she stroked Ryou's back comfortingly, "It's okay, Ryou. Bakura and me worked it out. You're safe now."

Her stroking ceased when she felt something wet on Ryou's back.

Looking at her hand, she nearly screamed when she saw it coated with blood.

Emiko grabbed Ryou's shoulders and exclaimed to no one in particular, "We need to get you to a hospital! Or have someone treat you! Oh gods,

Ryou..."

Now that she got a good look at him, she saw scars on his face, and several blood stains on his clothing.

Then, she heard Malik's voice from behind her, "What is going on,

Minami? What happened to this room?"

Turning around, giving Malik a good look at Ryou and his condition, she said as calmly as she could, "Namu, this is Ryou Bakura."

**When I first wrote this, I wrote "No way! You're not sowing buttons into my eyes!" Heh, Coraline. Love that movie.**

**So, Emiko and Rishid sure make a good team *coughhackcough*foreshadowing*hackcoughcough***

**The yaoi boys meet at last! But not all problems have been resolved!**

**Will Ryou recover from his wounds? How long can Malik pretend to be 'Namu' in order to befriend Ryou? Will Emiko be able to part with her beloved Eye? Why is Rishid so bald?**

**Yes, that last question is relevant to the plot. Trust me.**

**Reviews heal Ryou~**


	4. Chapter 4

**Geeze, I got five reviews for a single chapter. This calls for a party!**

**And you know what? All five chapters talked about Rishid. The man's gaining popularity~!**

**I kid, but you guys all asked questions about him, so I feel like I should answer them.**

_**How **__**is **__**Rishid being bald relevant to the plot? **_**Well, you see, Yami is going to tell Ryou and Malik that they cant be together because Malik is evil, and the sun will reflect off of Rishid's bald head, blinding Yami giving Ryou and Malik a chance to elope.**

**No, that is not happening. I just had to write that.**

**Well, I'm not going to tell you how it's relevant. You're just going to have to find out for yourself.**

_**You said that Emiko and Rishid make a good team. Does that mean that they're going to be a couple? **_**NO! I have nothing against the big guy, but Emiko stays asexual. The most they'll become is frienemies.**

**Also, only Ryou uses the traditional Japanese language (y'know, how they say '-san' and '-chan'…yeah) because Malik and Rishid are Egyptian and Emiko is just rude.**

**Enjoy the new chapter~**

_Bandages, bandages, bandages, where are you? Why must you hide from me so?...ah ha! There you are! Thought you could hide from me, hrm?_

_Well, my dear objects that are specifically used for healing, you thought wrong!_

The blond tightened her hands around the blue and white box of larger-than-normal bandages, smirking in pure victory.

She retracted her hand from the drawer, box in hand, and she left the storage room, into the lobby, up the stairs, and finally, she opened the door to room 412.

The scene was the same as she had left it. Rishid was sweeping away broken glass from the mirror, cleaning supplies nearby for when he was ready to clean the blood off the walls. On the bed, Ryou, shirtless, sat cross-legged, crying softly and wincing with pain as Malik sat on his knees behind the whitette, gently dabbing the scars on his back with an alcohol-soaked cloth, whispering words of comfort.

The Egyptian stopped when he saw Emiko standing at the door. He asked, "Do you have them?"

Emiko held up the box of bandages, shook them a little to emphasize that she had them, and tossed them to Malik, who caught them and opened them. Taking and unwrapping one bandage, he slowly placed it on one of Ryou's scars. The boy only whimpered in response.

Stroking Ryou's arm gently, Malik asked in a voice so normal that

Emiko thought that she was going to choke, "Are you okay, Ryou? Does anywhere else hurt too badly?"

The whitette slowly shook his head, and then choked out quietly, "What...what's your name?"

"It's Tsukino Namu." 'Namu' glared at Emiko when she coughed into her fist, something about gay shirtless boy bands, and then looked away innocently.

Ryou spoke up once more, "W-well, Tsukino-sama..."

Malik shook his head, "No, please. Call me Namu."

"O-okay, Namu-sama..."

"No 'sama's. Just Namu."

Ryou was staring at the sheets, his expression unreadable, "I...I just w-want to say...th-thank you."

Malik insisted with a kind smile, "It's what anyone would've done."

To everyone's surprise, Ryou's head whipped around, his chocolate brown eyes watery from the wall of tears threatening to fall, "N-no! No one e-ever helps me wh-when...when _he's_ hurting m-me!"

Without another word, Malik wrapped his arms around Ryou, earning a gasp in response. The Egyptian told him softly, "Don't think about that right now. As long as you're here, no one will hurt you."

There was a moment of silence, but then Ryou quickly hugged him back, tears involuntarily falling down his cheek.

"No one...n-no one understands..." Ryou began uncertainly, but Malik tracing circles on his back gave him more strength. "M-my friend...he h-has a spirit inside him t-too. But his s-spirit...is kind and helpful. N-no one else knows what it's like to have th-this evil spirit inside th-them..."

Malik looked at him with a strange look of understanding. In a quiet, unexplainable voice he said, "You're not the only one, Ryou."

Emiko raised an eyebrow and Ryou let out a small squeak of confusion, and only Rishid seemed to have any idea what he was talking about.

Malik began to explain; "I had been born in Egypt, like your spirit was. It's hard to believe, but Egypt actually has magic all around it. That explains how the Millennium Items were made."

Ryou blurted out, "You know about the Millennium Items?"

Malik nodded, "Of course. I even have a fake replica of the Millennium Rod."

Clearing his throat a bit, he continued, "Since I was born, I had to grow up faster than all the other kids because of my...job. This made me very stressful, so on my twelfth birthday...an evil demon came into my body and killed my father."

It was completely silent in the room. Emiko looked at Rishid, as if asking if it were true, and he gave her a curt nod, confirming it. He was the only one other than Malik who wasn't shocked by this news.

_Maybe because he was there_, Emiko thought.

The whitette was the first to speak. His voice was barely a whisper, "I'm...I'm sorry..."

Malik shook his head, dismissing memories, "It was a long time ago. Besides, my father was kind of a jerk."

He went on, "So, me and Rishid moved here in hopes that the demon would go away." Lowering his voice he added, "He hasn't gone away though."

Now it was Rishid's turn to be surprised. His eyes widened as he stared at Malik, and Emiko swore she saw a flash of anger in them, and what was even more confusing is that Malik looked at him guiltily before concentrating on calming Ryou.

Said teenager muttered, "It's nice to know that I can talk to someone else about it...thank you."

Malik hugged Ryou closer, "Don't worry about it. Like I said, no one will hurt you here. We'll take care of you."

Feeling someone tap her shoulder, Emiko turned her head to see Rishid, who pointed his head in the door's direction, and then began walking outside himself. Giving Malik and Ryou one last look, she followed him out.

Once they got outside and walked down the hall far enough, Emiko inquired, "Evil demon that killed his father?"

Rishid froze in his steps, sighed, and then continued to walk.

Emiko followed him, hands in her pockets. She tilted her head a little, lips tight in frustration, "Well?"

After more silence followed, Emiko sighed irritably, "If you're not going to tell me what's going on, then I will scream-"

Rishid growled through clenched teeth, "There is no 'evil demon'. He just made that up so that he could gain Ryou's trust."

Emiko frowned, "Why does he need Ryou's trust? On top of that, why does he need Ryou's friendship?"

No answer. At the end of her line Emiko snapped, "Why won't you tell me what's going on?"

Rishid turned around and stood right in front of her, their height differences now quite obvious. He snarled, "That is none of your business."

Emiko clenched her fists and stood on her toes in an attempt to seem more frightening, "It is so my business! I'm the one who's giving away my Eye just to keep this kid safe! I think I should know what you and

Malik plan on doing with him!"

"Hey!"

They both turned to see Malik standing in the hallways, arms crossed, "Ryou sent me out here to see why you two are yelling." Arching an eyebrow he asked, "Why _are_ you two yelling, anyway?"

Rishid shook his head slightly, "Nothing. Emiko, go to Ryou. I need to speak with Malik."

Emiko glared at him, but didn't say anything as she pushed passed

Malik roughly, and walked into the room.

Ryou looked up at her worriedly, "Why were you two yelling?"

Emiko shook her head slightly as she sat down on the bed Ryou sat on, "Nothin'. So, what were you and Namu talking about while we were gone?"

Ryou answered, a bit more cheerfully than normal, "He was just asking me about things Bakura's done. It's really good to get this stuff off my chest."

The blond stuck her tongue out a little before saying, "The guy's a suck up. I wouldn't trust him."

The whitette blinked a couple times before asking, "Why? He seems so nice."

Emiko rolled her eyes, "Whatever."

_"There is no 'evil demon'. He just made that up so that he could gain_

_Ryou's trust."_

Biting her lip, Emiko shook her head, "Don't mind me. Yeah, you can trust Namu. I just have a lot on my mind."

She couldn't help but smile a bit when she saw Ryou's face brighten up.

_You know what, Rishid? You are a terrible liar. But I'll just play along for now for Ryou's sake._

"I thought you said that he went away once we came to Japan."

Malik glared at the ground, not daring to meet his older brother's gaze.

Rishid narrowed his eyes, "Malik, talk to me. Why didn't you tell me that he was still haunting you?"

Malik muttered, "It wasn't important."

Rishid put his hand on his little brother's shoulder roughly, "Malik! He killed our father!"

Malik slapped his brother's hand away, "You mean he killed _my_ father!" He stomped off to his own room, leaving Rishid to stare after him, dumbfounded.

**Ooo, Malik burned you good! –is shot-**

**Also, this chapter may seem pretty dark. Don't worry; the other chapters won't be like this! It's just that I wrote the first half of this after watching Saw and the second half while actually watching Saw 2.**

**I've got the go, my little cousins are tormenting me~**

**Reviews make…um…they…make Bakura stop acting like a jerk? Yes, that.**


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